Photograph
ca.1850-1856 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Photograph of a gas light in the form of a chandelier with seven burners. This albumen print, a type of photograph, was made in 1861 from a glass negative in the photographic studio in the factory building of Skidmore & Co. at Alma Street, Coventry. This photograph is thus a record of the work done and comes from an archive of designs and photographs from the firm. Francis Skidmore (1817-1896) was a leading Victorian metalworker in the Gothic Revival style, which was an architectural movement the nineteenth-century practitioners of which sought to revive medieval forms. Skidmore also produced church plate, and furniture.
He was particularly interested in the developing technology of gas lighting. His firm installed it in three buildings in Coventry - in the medieval St Mary's Hall in 1850, in St Michael's church a year later, and in Holy Trinity church in 1856. In the following decades, Skidmore continued to design brackets for gas lighting which existed throughout Britain in this period. Inspired by Gothic decoration, the scrolling acanthus leaf beneath the chandelier and up the central stem demonstrates this artist-craftsman's involvement in the Gothic Revival.
He was particularly interested in the developing technology of gas lighting. His firm installed it in three buildings in Coventry - in the medieval St Mary's Hall in 1850, in St Michael's church a year later, and in Holy Trinity church in 1856. In the following decades, Skidmore continued to design brackets for gas lighting which existed throughout Britain in this period. Inspired by Gothic decoration, the scrolling acanthus leaf beneath the chandelier and up the central stem demonstrates this artist-craftsman's involvement in the Gothic Revival.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Albumen print from glass negative on paper |
| Brief description | Photograph of the Lichfield screen made in 1861 in the photographic studio of Francis Skidmore's firm at Alma Street, Coventry. |
| Physical description | Photograph of a gas light in the form of a chandelier with seven burners. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the Friends of the National Libraries |
| Production | Made in the photographic studio of Francis Skidmore's Skidmore's Art Manufactures Company, Alma Street, Coventry. Attribution note: 'The factory was described as follows: "the buildings comprise an extensive showroom filled with a valuable assortment of ornamental metalwork, of a medieval and Italian character, the designs for which are in daily request. Two drawing offices, with collection of ornamental designs and photographs very ably executed. Pattern shops with iron, brass and lead patterns, ready for use. Large general workshop with small lathes and steam hammer, for fitting, smithing and casting light work. Photographic studio. Enamelling rooms and furnace, stamping room, with a variety of dies for ordinary metal work. Electrotyping room, with bath and stone figure models; together with a separate engine room, containing a 14 hp engine nearly new. Boiler house, extensive stores, containing brass, malleable iron castings etc. Carpenters room and packing shop" From: Huw Jones and Annette Wickham, Francis Skidmore: A Coventry Craftsman, (Coventry Arts and Heritage, 2003), pp. 9-10. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Photograph of a gas light in the form of a chandelier with seven burners. This albumen print, a type of photograph, was made in 1861 from a glass negative in the photographic studio in the factory building of Skidmore & Co. at Alma Street, Coventry. This photograph is thus a record of the work done and comes from an archive of designs and photographs from the firm. Francis Skidmore (1817-1896) was a leading Victorian metalworker in the Gothic Revival style, which was an architectural movement the nineteenth-century practitioners of which sought to revive medieval forms. Skidmore also produced church plate, and furniture. He was particularly interested in the developing technology of gas lighting. His firm installed it in three buildings in Coventry - in the medieval St Mary's Hall in 1850, in St Michael's church a year later, and in Holy Trinity church in 1856. In the following decades, Skidmore continued to design brackets for gas lighting which existed throughout Britain in this period. Inspired by Gothic decoration, the scrolling acanthus leaf beneath the chandelier and up the central stem demonstrates this artist-craftsman's involvement in the Gothic Revival. |
| Bibliographic reference | Jones, Huw and Wickham, Annette. Francis Skidmore: A Coventry Craftsman. Coventry: Coventry Arts and Hertiage, 2003 9-10 pp. ISBN 0954118529 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.3008-2007 |
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| Record created | July 13, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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